My Cold-Hearted Wife Chapter 33

The melee involved a little over fifty people, a fight no larger than a single middle-school class. In terms of numbers, there were probably fewer people here than in a brawl between two gangs of street thugs.

But war was war, and life and death hung by a thread.

She saw one of the guards swing his saber at the pirate charging at the front, slicing off half his ear. She also saw another pirate leap forward, his sword plunging cleanly into a man’s abdomen before he yanked it sideways, sending the man’s intestines spilling out with a wet rush.

Blood and flesh flew everywhere. It was no exaggeration.

But Cheng Danruo was only squeamish about blood and afraid of needles; that was hardly enough to make her an unsuitable surgeon. Her face had gone pale during her very first anatomy class, but later on, she had become perfectly capable of eating instant noodles while watching surgical videos.

What made her nervous was whether they could actually win.

For the moment, the battle seemed to be going well.

The guards of Marquis of Jinghai’s household could hardly be mere ornamental soldiers. Even if their loyalty to Xie Xuanying was still uncertain, the safety of everyone depended on them now. Every one of them fought with courage and ferocity, and not a single man retreated.

What surprised Cheng Danruo, instead, was Xie Xuanying.

The guards carried sabers, while he carried a sword. Jewels were set into its scabbard, and the hilt was ornately carved. However she looked at it, it seemed far more like a ceremonial symbol of a gentleman’s status than a weapon meant for practical use.

Yet once the fighting began, he proved to be one of those people whose true abilities were not apparent at first glance. He wielded the sword with considerable ease, and every slash or thrust drew blood.

But after only a few strikes, he realized that the blade was too slender and fragile for a large-scale melee. He simply returned it to its scabbard, reached out for a guard’s saber, and charged straight to the front.

The guards were nearly scared to death and hurried after him to protect him.

Blood sprayed through the air.

The blade tore through flesh before catching between the ribs.

Xie Xuanying frowned. He was not accustomed to the sensation, and for a moment he could not pull the blade free.

A bandit nearby noticed and realized that this man’s identity was clearly no ordinary one. With the intention of taking him hostage, he used his companion’s body as a shield, drew a short knife from his waist, and thrust it viciously at Xie Xuanying.

“Young Master!” The guard’s heart pounded with terror.

Xie Xuanying, however, was far calmer. Since the blade was stuck, he abandoned it, taking two steps back and letting the man’s thrust pass harmlessly by before kicking him hard.

At the same time, he gripped the saber’s handle in reverse and dragged the blade downward, splitting open the man’s chest and freeing the saber from the body.

Unfortunately, the blade had been caught on the ribs, leaving a notch in its edge. It was no longer sharp.

Just then, he heard a scream. He turned his head and saw that the guard protecting the front of the carriage had been engaged by two Japanese pirates. Meanwhile, a short, stocky man had quietly slipped around to the side of the carriage and was reaching out to pull aside the curtain.

Zi Su and Nanny Zhang were right beside the carriage shaft. At the sight of what was happening, they had already gone completely rigid, unable to move. Nanny Zhang’s husband was in an even worse state, rolling helplessly on the ground, covered from head to toe in dirt and looking utterly wretched.

Fortunately, Bai Mu showed a fair measure of loyalty. He clung tightly to the bandit’s waist, refusing to let him enter the carriage.

“Sir!” Xie Xuanying immediately turned back.

Before he could reach the carriage, the curtain suddenly flew aside. Cheng Danruo leaned halfway out and looked down to see the bandit trying to climb onto the carriage shaft. She raised her hand and thrust her dagger straight at him.

The sharp blade entered through the back of his neck and pierced into the brainstem, severing the man’s life with ruthless efficiency.

The bandit had no time even to resist before he lost all ability to move.

She pulled out the dagger and shoved the body off the carriage.

The two pirates who had been grappling with the guard caught sight of the women inside the carriage. Their eyes lit up, and lecherous expressions spread across their faces. One of them immediately abandoned the burly guard and reached out to tear at Cheng Danruo’s padded jacket.

Cheng Danruo caught the stench of sweat mixed with the reek of fish.

She gritted her teeth, ignoring her torn clothing, and thrust the dagger towards his face.

The tip of the blade sliced across his eyelid. The pirate clutched his eye, cursing incoherently, yet somehow unleashed even greater strength as he lunged forward and grabbed her around the waist.

The force knocked Cheng Danruo backwards, sending her body reeling uncontrollably.

“Miss!” Zi Su trembled with panic, but her body was completely frozen and beyond her control. Inside the carriage, Yan Hongzhi grabbed Cheng Danruo, trying to pull her behind him.

But the bandit had a death grip on the hem of Cheng Danruo’s clothing. As he yanked at the fabric, there was a sharp rrrip, and a section of it tore away in his hand.

“Move.” Xie Xuanying shoved Zi Su aside and leapt onto the carriage shaft.

His saber came crashing down, carving a deep slash across the enemy’s back, so deep that bone showed through.

Only then did the enemy release Cheng Danruo and raise his blade to block the next strike.

The carriage was cramped, and with four people squeezed into such a confined space, neither attacking nor defending was easy. The pirate, for his part, had no qualms about hurting anyone else, whereas Xie Xuanying was afraid of accidentally injuring someone, which left him particularly constrained.

Cheng Danruo, however, had caught her breath. Seeing that the enemy was locked in a clash of blades with Xie Xuanying, she immediately seized the opportunity. Holding the dagger in a reverse grip, she accurately slashed open the man’s carotid artery.

“Pfft.”

Under the pressure, arterial blood sprayed out, splattering half the carriage and the roof completely red, like a rain of crimson.

Xie Xuanying seized the corpse by the back of its collar and hurled it heavily out of the mule cart.

Without even stopping to ask whether they were all right, he jumped down from the carriage and ordered Zi Su and Nanny Zhang, “Get into the carriage.”

The two women climbed inside, trembling all over, only to be stunned again by the blood covering the entire carriage.

“Urgh.” Zi Su felt like vomiting and clamped a hand over her mouth.

Yan Hongzhi glanced at them, sighed, and picked up the thin cloak beside him. “Miss Cheng, put this on.”

“Thank you.” Cheng Danruo felt a chill around her waist and did not bother with false modesty. She immediately wrapped the cloak around herself.

It had originally belonged to Xie Xuanying. The early-autumn wind was already chilly, so Baimu had prepared it in advance in case he caught cold.

But the young man was warm-blooded and thought nothing of the early-autumn breeze. Instead, when they were nearing the coast, he worried that Yan Hongzhi might fall ill after being exposed to the sea wind. He took off the cloak and insisted that his teacher wear it.

Who would have thought that Yan Hongzhi would never get any use out of it, while it ended up being just what Cheng Danruo needed.

Outside, the battle was still raging.

Xie Xuanying was seething with anger. The awkwardness of a first-time fighter had also worn off, and he now moved with a clear sense of purpose. Knowing that the guards would put his safety first, he did not rush recklessly into the fray. Instead, he had them form a defensive ring around the carriage, then ordered the servants and stewards to pick up stones and clods of earth from the roadside and hurl them at the enemy, preventing the bandits from getting too close.

At last, he retreated to the side of the mule cart and said, “There’s a box in the blue bundle. Bring it to me.”

The people inside the carriage were still shaken and searched for a long while without finding it. Cheng Danruo, however, spotted it immediately. She untied the bundle and handed the box to him.

Xie Xuanying opened the box and took out a long, narrow metal tube. It was a hand cannon.

He opened the compartment at the bottom of the box and took out several paper-wrapped shot pellets. He carefully loaded the weapon, but did not use it. Instead, he concealed it beneath his robes and continued wielding his sword.

Seeing that he was now in a relatively safe position behind them, the guards gradually fought with fewer restraints, throwing themselves into the slaughter.

But the pirates always outnumbered them. One by one, the guards were wounded, and as they found themselves unable to hold their ground, they retreated.

“Young Master, you and Master Zizhen should leave first.”

“Leave? There are only a little over twenty bandits. Am I supposed to flee with my tail between my legs?” Xie Xuanying sneered. “Today, either you and I die here, or they all die here.”

He swept his gaze over the men.

“For every man you kill, I’ll reward you with a hundred taels.”

With their backs against the wall, there was no better way to raise morale than to offer a rich reward. Whatever the guards might have thought in their hearts, seeing that Xie Xuanying refused to retreat, they had no choice but to fight to the bitter end.

Another quarter of an hour passed. Everyone’s strength had fallen dramatically, and their movements had begun to grow sluggish and stiff.

“Fall back behind me.”

He drew the hand cannon, lit the match, and aimed it at the pirates, who were likewise exhausted.

To his surprise, they recognized the weapon. The man at their head immediately shouted, “Watch out!”

Too late.

The lead shot fired in a volley, sparks bursting from the muzzle. Several of the pirates who were too close were struck brutally: some had their arms blown apart in a spray of blood and flesh, while others were left with multiple bloody holes in their chests. The sight was horrific.

The survivors finally showed fear. They scrambled and crawled desperately in an attempt to escape.

Xie Xuanying led the pursuit, sword in hand.

He was tall with long legs, and his strides were naturally much longer than those of the shorter pirates. He had also deliberately conserved his strength earlier, so it took only a few steps for him to catch up from behind and drive his sword straight through a man’s chest.

Once their morale collapsed, the rest were cut down with startling ease. A few swift strikes, and another life was claimed.

Only three experienced fighters saw that the situation had turned against them and immediately plunged into the dense forest.

The terrain inside the woods was complicated, and Xie Xuanying had no idea whether they had reinforcements lying in wait. He did not dare pursue them and stopped reluctantly.

“Young Master…” The lead guard clutched his arm, cold sweat streaming down his face. “You shouldn’t pursue desperate enemies.”

Xie Xuanying drew a deep breath and swallowed his anger before turning back. “See if there are any survivors. I want to know exactly what happened.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

The reply was still respectful, but there was a clear note of admiration in it now that had not been there before.

Xie Xuanying exhaled and hurried back to the carriage. “Sir, we need to leave this place immediately.”

“I’ll do as you say.” Yan Hongzhi trusted his student completely.

Cheng Danruo lifted the curtain and asked, “Are any of them seriously wounded? I can treat them before we go.”

“You know how to treat external injuries?”

“This is what I’m best at.” Her gaze fell on several guards covered in blood. “It won’t take long.”

Everyone had been pushed to the limits by the battle, and it was unrealistic to set off immediately. Xie Xuanying nodded. “I’ll leave them to you.”

Cheng Danruo gathered her cloak around herself as she climbed down from the carriage and opened her medical kit. She went to the most seriously wounded guard. “Let me take a look.”

The guard was young, barely eighteen or nineteen. His abdomen had been slashed open by a long, deep wound, and his intestines had spilled out. He was holding them in place with his hands.

“Lie flat. Don’t move.”

She took a bamboo tube from her medical kit and washed the wound with clean water. Then she placed a clean, damp gauze dressing over his abdomen, covering the exposed intestines.

She followed this by wrapping a triangular bandage around his abdomen to support the wound and keep the intestines from hanging down.

Once she had dealt with the injury as best she could, she moved on to the guard beside him, whose arm had been cut open.

The bleeding was severe. She immediately pressed down on the brachial artery at the appropriate pressure point to stop the bleeding.

Under the pressure, the flow of blood slowed noticeably.

Given how deep and extensive the wound was, the danger of failing to control the bleeding was considerable. Cheng Danruo decided that it would be safer to close the wound with stitches.

“You, press here.”

She instructed the guard beside her, who hurried to obey. Unfortunately, he had an astonishingly strong grip, squeezing so hard that the injured man grimaced in pain, yet he did not dare cry out.

Cheng Danruo did not notice his expression. She took out the needle and needle holder she had prepared earlier. The thread had already been attached, so she could simply pick them up and begin stitching.

It had been a long time since she had actually used a suture kit, but whenever she had nothing better to do, she would practice on fruit and pigskin. She was even more familiar with tying knots, and worked quickly and efficiently.

Eight stitches in total. She finished the suturing in less than half an hour.

She bandaged the wound, and that was that.

The next patient had been stabbed straight through the thigh. Fortunately, the artery had not been damaged, but a through-and-through wound was difficult to treat. She took out a syringe made of pure copper and flushed the wound with prepared saline.

The man cried out in agony. “Why are you using salt water?”

“It works better.” Cheng Danruo knelt beside him. “Don’t move. This kind of wound is difficult to stitch.”

“No need to stitch it.” He was clearly afraid of the pain, but put on a brave front. “It’s only a minor injury. I’ll be fine.”

Cheng Danruo asked, “You were stabbed straight through. Are you really sure you don’t want it stitched?”

He shook his head rapidly.

“All right.” Cheng Danruo did not press the matter and moved on to the next patient.

The fourth wounded man was not seriously injured, but he had been particularly unlucky. The cut ran across his cheek, deep enough that his tongue and teeth could be seen inside his mouth. He did not dare speak. Covering his face with one hand, he looked at Cheng Danruo and mumbled incoherently.

“Take your hand away. I’ll put some medicine on it.”

After hesitating for a moment, he slowly lowered his hand.

Using tweezers, Cheng Danruo picked up a piece of clean gauze and quickly cleaned the wound. She then opened a medicine bottle, sprinkled on some of her homemade clotting powder, and wrapped half his head in a triangular bandage.

The fifth man had been slashed across the shoulder. Fortunately, he was lucky enough that there was not much bleeding.

Cheng Danruo sprinkled on some medicinal powder and bandaged the wound.

The sixth had suffered the most absurd injury of all. A pirate had thrust at him with a sword. He dodged, only to trip and fall, leaving himself perfectly positioned for the pirate to stab him in the buttocks.

“Forget about me.” The burly man covered his backside and refused to let her treat him.

Cheng Danruo handed him the bottle of medicine and moved on to the seventh.

He had raised his arm to block an enemy’s attack, leaving several cuts, but none had damaged an artery. By now, the bleeding had almost stopped.

“Your injuries aren’t serious. I don’t have any more medicinal powder, so we’ll treat them properly once we reach the county town.”

This man was taciturn. He merely nodded without saying a word.

The eighth was also the leader of the entire group of guards. He was covered in grime, with a scrape on his forehead, but had suffered no real injury. He smiled at Cheng Danruo. “I don’t need any treatment.”

She nodded and moved on to Xie Xuanying.

For most of the battle, she had been watching him, so she knew he was probably unharmed. Even so, she politely asked, “Young Master Xie, are you injured?”

“I’m fine.”

Cheng Danruo turned her head again and glanced at the man with the wounded thigh.

He had not changed his mind. He stubbornly held his neck stiff and refused to look at her.

“That settles it, then.”

Cheng Danruo packed up her medical kit, lifted the hem of her cloak, and climbed into the carriage without hesitation.

Xie Xuanying looked up at the sky and made the decision immediately. “Back to the city.”